With hundreds of trees being felled across different parts of the city because of developmental works, resident bodies have slammed the inaction of government agencies over the depletion of green cover.
Already facing with the crisis of shrinking Aravallis, the felling of trees across different parts of the city has not gone down well with most of the resident bodies. On the pretext of developmental works like expansion of roads, construction of underpasses and encroachments, hundreds of trees have been rooted out in the areas around National Highway-8, Old Delhi Road and Gurugram-Faridabad Road.
Certain residents' bodies have even moved to the Punjab and Haryana High Court asking for a stay in the projects which required uprooting of hundred of trees.
A major complaint against the government agencies has been that due to lack of comprehensive framework, there is no clarity in the re-plantation process.
Further, lack of coordination among various government agencies have also resulted in no accountability being fixed for the concerned agency.
Various government agencies like the State Forest and Wildlife Department, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) are responsible for maintaining the green cover of the city.
"We are not against developmental works in the city. However, there has to be accountability of the hundred of trees that are being cut in the name of development. The main problem is that there is no centralised agency which keeps a track of this matter. As a result, the residents in Gurugram just do not know how much of green cover is actually being lost daily," said Dhruv Bansal of Gurgaon Citizens Council.
"Multiple agencies involved in the maintenance of green cover has resulted in none of the agencies being accountable for the problem of loss of green cover," added Bansal.
Rama Rani Rathee who is an MCG Councillor from Ward 34 said: "There were 140 trees that were cut for building a petrol pump. It was only when we moved court, the project was stopped and more trees were prevented from being rooted out."
"Even as the project has been stopped, the trees have still not been planted," Rathee added.
"There is a need to create a balance between development and green works. However, the government agencies do not seem to be keen in maintaining this balance," said Amina Shervani, a city-based environmentalist.